President's Report

Here we are and May is behind us. It was a busy month with so much to do with the bees. Thankfully we have received some much needed rain in our area to water the crops and also slow down the wildfires that are burning across the northern part of the province. Hopefully the fires are extinguished and with a bit of wind and rain we won’t have to deal with the smoke much longer.

Please let the office know if you are having challenges accessing your bees or have sustained any damage or loss because of the fires. Our contacts at Agriculture and Agrifood Canada have been in touch with the office several times in order to understand the impact of the fires on beekeepers.

This month the Tech Team has started their Colony Health Monitoring. They did come for a visit to our farm earlier in May and found low mite counts in the hives they tested. This is encouraging for the moment, but we know we have to stay on the offensive against them in our hives.

For those of you interested in participating in the Colony Health Monitoring program, the Tech Team is offering a selfsampling option. If you would like to learn more about this opportunity, please contact Nicole McCormick. Nicole.mccormick@albertabeekeepers.ca

The Tech Team will continue to work with the provincial Bee Team and the National Bee Diagnostic Centre on testing for resistant Varroa. In addition, the Tech Team has been working with Canadian Honey Council, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan beekeepers in determining levels of Quinclorac (a herbicide) in honey.

The Commission continues to support Dr. Bahreini and his work on new miticides for Varroa. Thank you to the pollinators who are funding and have donated 50 colonies to this project.

Earlier in the month of May, Ron Greidanus and Jeremy Olthof were in Ottawa to present on behalf of the Commission to the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Food. The focus of their presentation was on bee mortality. In addition to the Commission, there were presenters from across Canada and North America. Presentations took place on May 24, 26 and 31. If you’d like to watch: https://www.ourcommons. ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/AGRI/meeting-66/ notice

A few reminders:

Beaverlodge Field Day takes place on June 23rd. The Tech Team, Commission staff and some board members will be in attendance.

In September the Western Apiculture Society Conference will be taking place in Calgary.

And of course, our own AGM on November 29, and Trade Show and Conference on November 30 to December 1, 2023.